Amilna Estevão: The Goddess

By Irina Chitas
Much ink has been spilt about Amilna Estevão. The list of compliments is almost as long as her sky-high legs; she has walked more miles on the catwalk than we will ever walk on an aeroplane; she has been more photographed than any Hollywood diva. Bottom-line: this girl is incredibly famous, highly treasured, very much in demand.

By now, you all know her name. By now, you all know very well about the Vogue and CR Fashion Book spreads, the T Magazine covers, the Tom Ford and YSL campaigns. You know she was born in Angola and, by the age of 14, won the Elite Models competition, and won third place at the Elite Model Look World Final in 2013 – and you also know she made history there: for the first time since the competition began 30 years ago, a black model was in the top three. You may also know that she dreamed of being a flight attendant, but gave that up to walk for Alexander Wang, Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Giambattista Valli, Balenciaga or Prada – just to name a few.

But what we really wanted to tell you is something you might not know. We want – if we are able to put that into words – to describe the feeling of being in the same room as Amilna. It’s a feeling you don’t get with any other model in the world. At first, it feels like you’ve come home. Even if she doesn’t know you, she’ll hug you and introduce herself with a smile. Then, it feels easy. Everything feels easy. Laughing feels easy, because she is always, always laughing, most of the time she’s laughing at herself, which seems to be a long-lost talent among most models – everybody seems to take themselves too seriously nowadays, but not her. Talking feels easy, because she won’t stop moving and talking, gesticulating with her hands and arms all over the place. Moving feels easy, because she does it with such grace, such tenderness, like a ballerina, every step light as air. Working feels easy, because even after six hours of posing in front of a camera – the picture of perfection and grace, we might add – she is ready to add another seven or eight hours of walking the runway to her schedule. And loving, most of all, loving feels easy, because with this girl, it’s all about love. The smooth tone of her voice, her loud goofiness, her glowing ebony skin, every pore of that goddess body feels like it is made to love, every hour of every day. Being in the same room as Amilna Estevão is forgetting you are looking at a supermodel and wanting so badly to be her friend, to share that energy. She reminds you that you can be anything you want, and still be kind at the same time.